life's always better with the bestie

anna came to see me last week. it was awesome. she flew into hartford. i picked her up at the airport and we headed to the atheneum museum of art. our local library has passes for area museums that you can check out like a book so we got to go for free. we came home and jeremy finished up working, then we cooked dinner and watched k-state destroy the jayhawks. you know that's a good night.

friday morning we woke up late and had a lazy morning, before getting dressed and heading to bluff point state park for a little hike. the shoreline was gorgeous and we got some amazing nature pictures. after the hike we went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for gourmet grilled cheese. (thanks to martha s. for the inspiration). our favorite new flavor was apple slices and gruyere. sounds weird but it tasted yummy! jeremy was in charge of grilling the sandwiches, a task at which he excels. :)

friday afternoon we drove to new haven and took a quick tour of the yale campus, before heading up to wallingford for a concert. justin as playing with david nail, who opened for lady antebellum. yeah it was a great show. we got to be all vip and hang out for sound check, which took me back to our days to stage managing mosaic services at beverly hills high school. justin rocked the house and both acts were great. we got to meet david nail and his band, as well as some members of lady a after the show. everyone was super nice and it was great to see justin again too. all too soon it was time for us to head home and leave anna to her fate on the tour bus with all boys. for a short visit we packed a lot in and it was so great to see her again!!!!

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book review: brain jack

from the back: Right now, as you read this, i am sifting through the contents of your computer. Yes, your computer. You. The one holding this book.

You could race over and turn your computer off, but you'd already be too late.

I could delete a few files, but I probably won't. I could change your password and lock you out of your own system, but I can't be bothered. I am not malicious or evil, or even particularly bad.

I'll just quietly leave, and erase all trace that I was ever there.

But I know you know. I know who you are. I know where you live. I know what you've got. And if the time comes that I need something from you, something that you might or might not want to give up, I'll be back.

That time is coming. Sooner than you think.

my review: this book was different from a lot of things i read. the first half reminded me of cory doctorow's little brother. the techno-thriller aspect was cool without being way over my head or inaccessible to someone who couldn't hack into someone's yahoo account if her life depended on it. through a series of events our main character, sam finds himself on the run. the second half of the book is alot more action-adventure, save the world type of stuff. it was fast-paced and i read it in one afternoon.  this is a book that computer minded teenage boys might enjoy. (or other people since i am not a computer minded teenage boy and loved it). it was set a little bit in the future, not too much to make it crazy and a whole new universe, but enough to make the technological advances that carry the plot believable. if you like young adult novels and/or techno thrillers - try this one on for size.

jessie's visit pt 3: nh, me, ct

on monday of jessie's trip, we drove from mass up to maine, where we visited our favorite lighthouse, nubble, in york. we stopped in at the kittery trading post for old times sake, then back over the bridge to portsmouth, nh for lunch and some time in downtown portsmouth. one of jessie's visiting new england goals was to see the quintessential lighthouse and this one couldn't be closer to that. while in portsmouth, jeremy and i stumbled across the coolest thing in a store we hadn't visited before. we were on a mission for a new hampshire shirt for jess which we never procured, but we walked out of the store with a wick attached to a cork and some parafin oil. now, any empty wine bottle is a candle, with no dripping wax or smoke. it is awesome.

we made our way back home. on tuesday we had originally planned to head to new york city, but the travel logistics did not work in our favor. instead, we explored the mystic seaport, which jeremy and i had never done when all of the exhibits were open. they are working on restoring a tall ship from long ago, and they have a row of shops that resemble what would have been open in a port town like mystic in the late 1800s. It is the coastal version of cowtown. :) we got to go on several boats and peek around.

after lunch at five guys, we hit the road for thompson, ct. there was a giant corn maze there waiting for us. it took us an hour and a half and i bet we walked at least three miles inside that hing, but we conquered it. then we had farm-made ice cream and apple cider. talk about visiting new england in the fall!

jessie's visit pt 2: boston

on sunday we got up early and started driving. we drove through rhode island and up into massachussetts. we stopped at a couple of places on the way to boston. we hot up foxborough to see the patriots stadium. it was insanely huge. then, we drove to cambridge for a quick tour of the harvard campus. i much prefer yale. :) we were planning on meeting ryan and stephanie at the prudential building in boston for lunch then doing some exploring. there was a cool infinity pond/fountain across from the building so we stopped for a few photos before eating. after lunch we went up to the top floor of the prudential building (that's the 52nd!) and took in the breathtaking views of the entire city. 

after lunch we hopped on the t and headed for fanuiel hall and the sights around it. we stopped in at christopher columbus park and the north end to check out the hahbah. the water was beautiful and the weather was perfect. we walked around the area and saw the site of the boston massacre, the holocaust memorial and quincy hall. jessie got to see the cheers bar and the hard rock cafe boston, both things that were high on her list of activities.


we spent the night up in bedford, mass, so we were ready to go on monday for our tour of new hampshire and maine. it was so much fun seeing ryan and stephanie - it made been almost two months since they came down here to visit, and i was overdue for my stephanie fix!

jessie's visit pt 1: hartford

 jessie came and visited us last week. she flew in and out of hartford, our state capital. we spent saturday afternoon driving around the city, sightseeing and doing a few fun things. the hartford marathon was just finishing up as we drove into bushnell park. the park's entrance is a beautiful bridge with a castle/tower over it. that was the finish line for the race - how fun is that? the park has a really old carousel in it - it ws built in 1914 and is a historic site. i had to ride it, and for a dollar, who could resist? i kinda love carousels, and always have. i used to have an old carousel horse in my room when i was younger. jessie wasn't quite as excited as i was, but we had a good time. jeremy refused to participate so he became the official ride photographer.

we drove out of the park past the capital building - it is pretty! the grounds are beautiful but there was orange construction tape up everywhere (i think they were re-landscaping or something) so i didnt take any up close pictures. you can see the gold roof of the building from almost anywhere in the city.

after hitting the main sights in hartford, we drove the hour back to groton and hung out for the evening at home. jessie got to meet rumpy and cricket and see our community. we went to bed early because we had big plans for sunday and monday!